Let God Sort Em Out
After 16 years, Clipse returns with a project that has certainly lived up to expectations. While Pusha T has remained in the spotlight, No Malice comes back following a period of reflection that culminated in his conversion to Christianity. It’s No Malice himself who takes most of the closing verses, counterbalancing his brother’s more boastful bars with a more introspective style. As usually, Pharrell Williams oversees the artistic direction, and the features include heavyweights like Kendrick Lamar (on 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 & 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, with a venomous line aimed at President Trump), Tyler, the Creator (on 𝘗.𝘖.𝘝.), and Nas (on 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘌𝘮 𝘖𝘶𝘵 / 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴). The album opens with 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘨, a touching track where the two brothers address the loss of their parents. In the first verse, Pusha draws inspiration from a conversation with his dead mother: "𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘢'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 / 𝘛𝘳𝘺𝘯𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 / 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 / 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯". In the second verse, No Malice reflects on a touching exchange with his father. On 𝘔.𝘛.𝘉.𝘛.𝘛.𝘍., the brothers show their mastery of spoken poetry, as the first semantically significant section of each of their verses is left musically empty. On 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 & 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, No Malice demonstrates his growth, rapping about both the anxieties caused by excessive wealth accumulation and quoting John’s Gospel, where you can read that the thief (here, No Malice extends the metaphor to the Devil, or "Evil" itself) comes only to steal, kill, and destroy: "𝘐𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 / 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯' 𝘺𝘰𝘶 [...] 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 10:10, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 / 𝘔𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯' 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘴".
Mattia
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